Far-right, authoritarian, power-hungry and unchecked: Fascist governments have reigned over swaths of the world and continue to meet criticism from democratic and leftist governments alike. Although typically understood in Benito Mussolini’s Italy and Nazi Germany’s contexts, fascism manifests in varying times, places and degrees. In modernity, the term flies in political discussions regarding anything from President Donald Trump’s leadership style to international wars, and this popular discussion sways how regular people vote. While fascist ideologies spring up in groups regardless of their governments, a country led by fascists will notice exponential, harmful changes as their power grows. Ultimately, the political system follows a pattern of ideological and political shifts that allows onlookers both within and outside of the country to note the shift and, ideally, counter it.
At its core, fascism forms when charismatic authoritarian dictators or oligarchs amass power, which frequently aligns with their own financial interests through pro-capitalism and anti-other political plays. That pro-capitalism distorts the economic system’s market basis due to the government’s control over all aspects of life and selective application of social security, but corporate businesses ultimately gain from the system. A fascist dictator typically seeks to expand his or her control outward, targeting neighboring countries or disrupting their systems. This type of dictatorship arose in Italy following the First World War, and it spread like wildfire across the nations — Italy, Germany and Japan — that would soon comprise the Axis powers. With it, the mass murder of minorities sprang up, namely the Holocaust. Though the structure fell out of fashion in Western Europe by the 1950s, the Cold War prompted battles between communist and capitalist powers in proxy nations, nations in which the U.S. and U.S.S.R. established authoritarian, though not strictly fascist, governments to counter leftist movements. The difference between fascism and other undemocratic governments lies in the system’s focus on villainizing certain groups. From racial profiling and anti-immigrant rhetoric to homophobia, fascism thrives on blaming problems on a society’s minorities.
“The fasces was a symbol of the Roman emperor’s ability to punish subjects and, later, under Mussolini, any group opposed to him or scapegoated by the state. It’s not just that fascist regimes are nationalist or even ultra-nationalistic; they go so far as to be chauvinistic, suggesting that one nation/people/race (symbolized by the regime/state) is wholly superior to others (see notions of the Arian race, which substantiated internment camps and the Holocaust). Anyway, the point is that if you or your people/community/ethnic group aren’t in the bundle itself, strengthening the axe, then you are likely to get the axe. This sort of ideology was useful for leaders during the interwar period because war had put them on the defensive,” Associate Professor of Political Science at Georgia State University Ryan Carlin, Ph.D. said.
In the modern world, fascism’s negative perception prevents governments from openly identifying with the ideology. Still, neo-fascist political parties persist. These far-right groups, such as Italy’s The Brothers of Italy party, either descend directly from formerly fascist parties or align themselves with neo-fascist and neo-nazi ideas. These schools of thought resist communism and encourage hyper-nationalistic and militaristic citizenry. Seeking popularity as they pit people against each other, they tend to vocally support the supremacy of their nation’s “ideal,” “common” citizen, typically straight white “new men,” and blame those apart from that group for the issues faced by the populace. These “new men” work violently to assert themselves as masculine and powerful, mirroring the nation’s identity. Hostility toward liberal and leftist economic patterns also manifests in the negation of corporation-caused issues in exchange for hate. In the present world, scholars frequently attribute climate change denialism to the rise in far-right extremism and industries’ benefits from unchecked environmental impact. North Korea, for example, exemplifies a militaristic dictatorship reminiscent of a fascist government, but its identity as a communist nation tears away that label. In contrast, Vladimir Putin’s Russia tends to merit comparison to the system, a likeness easier to validate considering the nation’s mixed economy. Putin’s comparatively passive and uncharismatic leadership style, though, again minimizes his regime’s reflection of fascism.
As the political system faces increased public discussion, Americans feel their understanding of fascism shapes their political views. At NC, particularly given the international studies program, this manifests in increasing interest in public policy, both locally and globally. As the current administration’s critics, for example, compare President Donald Trump’s immigration policy to that of fascists, NC students react with their own thoughts on related policies. Fears surrounding propagandized education leave students in their seats during the pledge of allegiance, and following federal pokes at women-dominated degrees, that concern echoes in college-bound seniors’ minds.
“Fascism, like totalitarianism, is a word that gets thrown out against political enemies — often imprecisely. At the same time today, unlike during WWII, much of the world now recognizes the elements of fascism and understands how dangerous it can be. So, when the state gets involved in strategic sectors of the economy (e.g., media, social media, AI, semiconductors, etc.), it begins to demonize people of a different race or creed, and militarizes society (e.g., conducting military parades, using the military for roles beyond international defense), and people recognize this pattern from history. Calling such regimes fascist is not 100% correct, but to say that they have fascist elements is not an overstatement. I believe we are seeing some of these elements today in the United States. Is it full-blown? No, not yet. But because the stakes are so high, it seems useful to keep an eye out for this pattern. Today, Hungary also exhibits a lot of the characteristics of fascism — the state controls the media; it uses propaganda to maintain a state of fear of Muslim immigrants; it punishes political enemies in subtle and not too subtle ways that undermine electoral fairness; it scapegoats if not all Jews definitely George Soros, a Jewish billionaire associated with leftist politics; etc,” Carlin said.
Among democratic nations, the break between a powerful executive and authoritarian fascism can become jagged and unclear. Although these countries tend to express support for democracy and participate in the inherently anti-fascist United Nations, they still may act in ways that reflect the impressing ideology. Among these nations, Israel has faced fire for its government’s treatment of Palestinians in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with certain historians likening the destruction to a genocide. As fascists historically supported their nation’s “purity,” an increasingly conservative regime tied with an alleged genocide leads to legitimate concern. In European and American countries, strong anti-immigration rhetoric and harsh law enforcement surrounding borders raise similar concerns, as well as laws that disadvantage women, LGBTQ+ people and disabled individuals. Still, identifying actual fascism in modernity acts as a path wrought with landmines, and only careful search for patterns can guide accurate steps.
According to Yale and the University of Toronto Bissell-Heyd Chair in American Studies and philosophy professor Dr. Jason Stanley’s book “How Fascism Works,” an ideology becomes fascist when 10 pillars support it. The expert differentiates fascism from other political movements by defining the playbook with these steps. First, an aspiring leader will try to create a “mythical past.” By glorifying an era in history or a traditional structure, a fascist suggests to his listeners that if they step backward toward rekindling that time, the world will improve. Unfortunately, this foundation will typically rest on unstable ground: inaccurate histories or a disregard for the problems that accompanied the past. His second, third and fourth pillars — propaganda, anti-intellectualism and unreality — form a trio of manipulation. Through propaganda, the fascist leader declares new facts and leans on pathos to legitimize his ideals to the public. As he attacks non-sanctioned education, bans books and regulates other activities that encourage critical thinking, he fosters a society susceptible to accessible propaganda and ultimately empowers himself to create a new reality. With falsities circulating as fact, rational discussion grows impossible, and the fascist becomes a guide where logic once stood.
Hierarchy and victimhood, columns five and six, also uphold fascism. These strike when a society reinforces social structures that subjugate different groups, including segregation, anti-feminism and attacks on immigrants. In tandem with elitism, the fascist regime will convince the majority group that it faces oppression due to efforts toward equality. This attempt to persuade the advantaged that minorities pose a risk leads directly to the seventh pillar, where law and order legitimizes exclusion. A fascist resists straight-out stating that a group cannot enter his or her sanctum of purity; instead, law enforcement becomes a means to that end. Column eight rests on sexual identity, and though a fascist may express a concern for children’s innocence or the nation’s morality, as the government attempts to exert control over sex, it begins to closely observe every part of its citizenry’s personal lives. The penultimate nail in the coffin for fascism, according to Stanley, includes a favor for the “heartland” or the rural, typically homogenized groups and traditional values of the country. Finally, by identifying the “hardworking” as the unresistant members of the dominant group, column 10 supports a fascist nation that disallows labor rights or limited socialized support. Fascists describe “lazy” outsiders negatively as they resist a system contrary to the people’s interests: this column dually villainizes the discontented, and typically minority, laborer as well as government protection from corporate abuse.
Writer and commentator Laurence Britt holds an overlapping opinion parallel to these pillars, but his 14-characteristic understanding uniquely emphasizes early action, which signals fascism rather than its overarching qualities. In the 1990s, even before Britt, author and philosopher Umberto Eco wrote “Ur-Fascism,” an essay creating a 14-point list which emphasized mindset rather than action, but its themes — propaganda, “othering” and elitism, among others — still echo those of Britt and Stanley. While Eco’s focus came from his personal experience growing up in Mussolini’s Italy, the way he notes the shifting ideologies in minute and extravagant ways illustrates the points of action set forth by his contemporaries. Regardless, these three lists each face criticism for their reliance on subjective ideas and their potential application to other ideologies, meaning that simply because a government checks off the boxes, it might not represent Mussolini’s true fascism. Ultimately, fascism rises under a society that values devotion to a dictator and conservativeness over other parts of a regime or functions of government.
“I think historically, we could say that fascism emerged as a unique form of far-right politics, that kind of began to differentiate itself from traditional conservatism, though part of it grew out of traditional conservatism of the time. After World War I, there were fascist movements that began to call themselves fascist in both Italy and Germany. These were partly pro-state and pro-authoritarian state movements that were motivated by anger and revenge about either losing the war or the decisions of governments in the war in World War I. They were either angry about the loss of the monarchy in the case of Germany, or in all cases, they were against communism and socialism, despite the Nazis liking to call themselves the national socialists, which was an attempt to appeal to the working class at the time. From the start, they were anti-communist and anti-socialist. This was also the same time that you had the Soviet Union’s Russian Revolution. So as the 1920s and 1930s progressed, fascists attempted to broaden their base to forms of street violence and by putting together a really unique ideology that wasn’t even an ideology in the traditional sense beyond being hyper nationalist and really picking up on themes of racism of the time,” author, former Lecturer of Social Studies at Harvard University and Assistant Professor of Political Science at Hunter College, CUNY William Callison, Ph.D. said.
Neo-fascism — the post-World War Two iteration of fascism that encompasses reactions to modernity such as growing anti-immigrant sentiment and retreating, though still present, antisemitism — eludes the public as its proponents misrepresent the school of thought as conservatism. Considering fascism’s inherently conservative roots, the two spaces can overlap as modern right-leaning people seek to balance their values. Unfortunately, select right-wing media deny the overlap and opt instead to mislead consumers to conflate fascism with leftism. This misnomer arises because of the control the state gained over the economy in fascist countries without consideration of the control capitalists held over the state. Interestingly, though, modern conservative leaders have begun labeling anti-fascist organizers, Antifa, as terrorists. The decentralized school of thought here does participate in protests, even violence, but the label has faced controversy over its accuracy. Ultimately, any idea as abstract as fascism will continually face debate, and where a leftist might cry fascist, the right might find reasonable thought. Still, ethnic homogeneity and military dictatorships provide keys to identify where fascism ends and conservatism begins.
“One thing that I’m working on, thinking about the far right, fascism, et cetera, would be climate change and the relationship between climate change denialism and the far right, because historically, climate change wasn’t part of popular political discourse. Yet, fascists could use different ideas, such as romantic ideas about nature, even while destroying the natural environment through war. Militarism and warfare and imperialism are also characteristics of historical fascism, and when we look at the kind of contemporary far right, or when we look at tendencies toward fascism, whether it’s in our country or around the world, I’d say, if we’re worried about both the future of humanity and the future of non human life, we need to understand how and why these far right politics is buttressed by climate change denialism and by conspiracy theorizing,” Callison said.
The threat of fascism persists, even under democratic governments. In fact, original fascists, including Mussolini, Adolf Hitler and Gyula Gömbös, came into power at times when their nations still held national votes, though the citizenry did not directly vote all of these into their offices. Fascist ideologies rarely slow when people do not actively resist. For fascism to rise, discontentment and a lack of education must coincide within a society. In Nazi Germany, this rose because of desperation in an era of incredible poverty. In the modern world, a lack of connection, uncertainty about the planet or even those old, known threats of war and starvation can provide the damp, dark environment perfect for the fungus of fascism to grow. Fighters for democracy, for fiscal equality and for human rights consistently ended these regimes, and classical fascism died following World War II. Still, fascist ideas persist in the mainstream and creep into the world’s eyesight, dipping in and out of distressed places. Vigilant citizens may learn to recognize the signs presented by historians and political scientists and avoid supporting people, groups or movements that demonize others or encourage hypernationalism. This mindfulness ensures a fascist does not gain power, a situation arguably never resolved without international intervention. Hatred lives under fear alone, and fascists seed, grow and shape that fear to offer faux solutions.
“I believe I first learned about fascism in world history class, and I have relearned it because of newer media. I always thought about it in a sort of negative manner. I think, particularly, my surprise was how easily influenced people were by fascism. Considering how easily it is for people to be influenced, I always attempt to fact-check before sharing any news, and make sure to hear out other viewpoints on different topics,” sophomore Ny’Kema Ebizie said.
For those aiming to avoid falling into the trap of fear-mongering, whether employed by fascists or other groups, keeping a close eye out for propagandistic tactics promises results. Understanding different media outlets’ biases, maintaining a watch for logical fallacies and approaching people with empathy before distrust can all cut Eco’s 14 steps short. People who witness action in line with neo-fascist ideas can recall that resistance extends beyond the mind. Ultimately, the rise of fascism begins with ideology, then power shifts before it becomes an instrument for death, but this growth eventually accompanies its fall. The fears once conjured by the power-hungry authoritarian fade into the shadows of the real, human, tangible atrocities that those fears motivated.
